A Charmed Fate: Awakenings
by Tatum Salem
Summary: This is part III of A Charmed Fate. Wyatt and his beloved must deal with the choices they'd made for better or worse. Being good or evil is the main unanswered question going around and around their family tree. Wyatt's choice is not his own anymore and whatever he decides will change every Halliwell's life.
1. What if

Piper, Phoebe and Paige decided on their half to talk about the so called reunion of theirs.

"You could have backed me up a little more!" said an angry Piper.

"Piper, we have to see their side of this too! Haven't we proven that already?" exclaimed Phoebe. Piper gave an irritated grunt.

"Sometimes I wish… never mind"

"What is it, Piper? It's us" said Paige. Piper sighed before speaking again.

"What if the whole Sam situation was a mistake?"

"How do you mean?" asked Paige.

"What if they never got together in the first place?"

"Oh honey, you don't mean that" said Phoebe.

"Maybe I do" the sisters were silent for a while "I don't know"

"What if we find out?" said Paige. She walked to the Book of Shadows and started perusing through the pages. "Maybe we could get a glimpse of what things would be like without them meeting each other" she ripped the piece of paper with the written spell on it.

"Would that give you some peace of mind?" asked an uncomfortable Phoebe. Piper shrugged. "I guess we'll see"

They gathered around the potion and chanted the spell:

 _To give our mind some peace_

 _Let us see what must be seen_

 _Through endless possibilities_

 _Let us know what might have been._

They landed on their own bodies away from each other. Unexpectedly, Sam did too.

"What the h…?"

"Morning"

"Morning, W….oah!" Sam jumped out of bed scared to see Danny wearing nothing but a towel. "What are you doing here?! What am I doing here?!" it just dawned on her she was in the trailer she had lived with Danny once.

"What's up with you?"

"I need… coffee. You want one?" she ran past him and took the keys off the hook in the kitchen where they used to be. She left a confused Danny behind and went for the car. "Start, you old piece of junk! No wonder I sold you!" the car roared to life and she pushed the pedal as far as it would go. She went to her house first where there was another family playing in the front yard. She pulled over just the same.

"Excuse me. Hi. Is Wyatt home?"

"I'm sorry. We don't know any Wyatt"

"Really? Wyatt Halliwell"

"Oh, the Halliwell manor is just a block down, but I think they sold it"

"They what?"

"Is everything OK?" Sam nodded and walked back to the car.

Meanwhile, Piper…

"Leo?" asked Piper into the darkness of the room she was in. She pulled back a curtain and saw she was in a biker's crib. There were sleeping bearded leathered covered people all around the furniture and the floor. She noticed she was wearing right about the same clothes. "Oh my God" she said to herself climbing through the bodies and heading for the door.

"This can't be good" she said to herself.

"Where are you going?" said a voice behind her. Apparently, she had left somebody behind the room she just left. Piper opened her mouth a couple times but she got nothing. The man walking toward her now lit a cigarrete before going for a kiss, which Piper avoided with a nervous smile.

"Ran out of cigarretes!" she said a bit too loud.

"Alright, bring me some cold brewskis while you're at it" he spanked her before she left. She would have wanted to burst his head open for it but she had to play along if she was to find her answers. "Aren't you forgetting something?" the biker followed her out.

"Am I?" said Piper. The man grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him.

"Just pull it out" he said softly.

"What's that now?" she said nervously feeling something digging at her hip. He smiled and pulled a single key out of his pocket. "Oh, right!" he kissed her and Piper made her lips as tight as she could before turning to the motorcycle in front of them. With all the effort in the world she remembered the one time she had driven a motorcycle and drove off fast hoping to God she would remember how to use the brakes on time.

Phoebe on the other hand…

She was sitting in front of a mirror half-naked. She gathered some clothes and got dressed.

"Woah" she said as somebody grabbed her waist when she sat on the bed. "Oh, I'm sorry if I woke you, hun-n-n…" it wasn't Cooper. "I need to…"

"I know what you need" said the handsome thing in bed trying to pull her over.

"Oh, God no! I- I-I… must see… my sister, sisters" she left as fast as she could, but the boy finally left the bed to chase after her leaving all trace of fabric behind.

"It can't be that urgent, come on…" he started kissing her neck as she curled up against the wall.

"Oh but it is… could you keep that away please?" she said avoiding looking straight at the naked body trying to rub against her.

"What… this?" he smiled "Oh, I see what you want" he kneeled in front of her where Phoebe stopped his head from getting any further. "Oooh you wanna play it like that" he smiled.

"I'll tell you what…you sit back on the bed and I'll surprise you" said Phoebe trying to get him away from her. The boy obediently sat back on the edge of the bed and stared at her. Phoebe blocked the overly fond welcome with her hands before turning her head around. "OK, now close your eyes" she said slowly walking slightly towards him. "No peeking" she waved her hands a couple times making sure he wasn't looking before she made a quiet and quick escape.

Sam went to Paige's office and tried asking for her. She only managed to get an address out of everyone's weird out faces.

She drove into a cemetery unsure if she had hit the right address, scared she might. She asked the caretaker who reassured her she had the right place. Unsure where to even start looking she asked the man about Paige. Sadly, he did know where she was.

"Henry?" asked Sam almost reaching Paige's resting place.

"Sorry do I know you?" he looked up from where he sat.

"I know… knew Paige" Sam said feeling a big gulp stuck in her throat.

"Friend of hers?"

"You can say that" Sam kneeled close to Henry, unable to really look at Paige's resting place if not from the corner of her eye. "I… hadn't spoken to her in years"

"I see" Henry barely lifted his eyes from her grave. The air was getting thicker and thicker. "Were you friends with her sisters?" he said aggressively.

"Umh… through her" Sam answered quickly.

"Well, you might want to stay clear off them"

"Why's that? Wasn't she close to them?"

"Hah, way too close. I warned her. When that boy started to… I knew they would choose him over anyone else, even her"

"You mean her sisters… ?" Sam couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I know they got off by using their tricks, but I also know they're guilty" Sam's heart sank lower than it ever had been. This was just not possible. "So much for family, huh?"

"The sisters I knew… would have never… hurt one of theirs…"

"I guess it's all about how high you are in the food chain. Our young before our siblings. I guess that would have made sense even for her. Bless her"

"Wait. You mean… umh…" she knew what to ask, but she wasn't sure she wanted to hear what he had to say.

"That boy of Piper's. The eldest… Wyatt" her mouth went dry and her heart seemed to have forgotten how to beat properly. Blood pressure rising, her head felt like it was about to blow. Before she could open her mouth again, Henry was back to aggressive. "Some nerve you got to come here at all!" he was about to reach for his gun. Sam, still unable to say a word, held his hand. He helped her up.

"Sam?" asked Phoebe.

"I think I better leave. Thanks for coming. She always treasured her friends" smiled Henry as faintly as a whisper in a tornado and left at full speed.

"So you know me?"

"Of course, but what are you doing here?" asked Piper.

"I'm in weirdo-land. And since you're about the only ones that recognize me, I'm prepared to bet you had something to do with this"

"Kinda" confessed Phoebe.

"Where's Paige? They sent us here from her job"

"Well, I might as well fill you in" said Sam rudely. "Whatever the hell you guys did, sent me right back to my ex and Paige right where I'm standing"

"What?" asked Phoebe. She broke down and cried as she saw the engraving. Piper wasn't crying. She froze and stared at the letters.

"It seems, somehow you were taking Wyatt's side and had to fight Paige"

"Sides? How…?"

"Don't I want to know, Phoebe!"

"We need to fix this" Piper's words were not more than a whisper.

"Fix what? What did you guys do?" asked Sam enraged. Phoebe looked at Piper who wasn't looking as she was going to talk any time soon.

"We cast a spell to see what would have happened if you and Wyatt hadn't met"

"Why would you do that?"

"We needed to clear things out" answered Piper.

"Are they clear enough now?" Sam said angrily. "You took my entire family out! My father, my brother, my husband, my children!"

"We're so sorry" said Phoebe speaking for the both of them. "We'll get them back. This was just a glimpse. We will get back"

"How exactly? We were supposed to see what needed to be seen, without Paige…" said Piper.

"Where _is_ everybody?"

"I don't know. They're not in our house. We don't even _have_ a house. I never opened Brightest Blessings"

"How are you so sure?"

"Because, Piper, I opened that store because I needed something to hold on to after giving up Wyatt" Sam had never talked about this to anyone.

"You gave him up?"

"I knew he had too much of a destiny and beyond to be stuck with me"

"But he found you" said Phoebe staring at her sister. "Just like Coop said…" At the mention of his name he jumped out of a locket Phoebe hadn't been aware she was wearing. She flung herself to his arms.

"Coop… not that I'm not glad to see you… but huh?"

"I'm with her on this one" said Piper.

"Phoebe, what changed your mind?" he said confused.

"About what?"

"About us… after what happened with Paige you locked your heart away from everyone"

"And I locked you in this?" she asked holding up the locket.

"No, I accepted to be your prisoner until you finally said my name with the same love you used to" she kissed him again.

"This keeps getting better and better" said Sam rubbing her arm in distress.

"OK. Coop, I need… we need you to get us to Wyatt"

"What for? It'll be crawling with demons as usual"

"Where is he?" asked Sam concerned.

"Where he always is, at the Halliwell manor. Who are you?" he added after a minute.

"Long story. Listen, this is gonna sound insane, but it's the best shot we have" said Phoebe.

"He'll kill you. And I'm not sure who you are, but he'll kill you anyway"

"I still need to see him" said Sam. "Please"

"I guess… I could… follow their love trace for you Piper, but after Leo I don't know how successful I'll be"

"What about Leo?" Phoebe nodded and hugged him tighter before he answered Piper.

"Wyatt killed him. Chris had to hurt you to save you from him" Coop took them to Leo's grave which was covered in roots. _Here lies Leo Wyatt beloved husband and brother._

Piper fell to her knees and cried.

They decided to give her some space. Seeking the shade of the tree, they walked away.

Sam threw up right behind the tree.

"Are you alright?" asked Phoebe.

"Peachy" Sam wiped her mouth. There was blood on her sleeve. "Great"

"What…?" Phoebe gave her one of her many scarves to wipe on.

"It's OK. I figure if I'm with Danny he might have hit something important by now" she said spitting the remains of her sick.

"We need to get to Wyatt" said Piper coming back, wiping the bitter tears from her eyes. "You alright?"

"As right as I can be" said Sam still wiping her mouth.

"We're gonna fix this" she said with the determination only she could muster. Cooper put his ring on and they all moved through space unseen.

They reappeared by a bed with a woman on top of someone wearing her undergarments.

"Oh my…!"

"Cooper!"

"Honey, I don't control the…"

"Mom?" said Chris putting his shirt back on. "Who are you?"

"Somebody who can see your fly wide open" said Sam covering her eyes.

"Leave us, Bianca" the girl shimmered away.

"A demon, really?"

"Piper, focus!"

"We need to see Wyatt"

"I still don't know who the hell you are!"

"Watch it young man!"

"I don't, mom! And what are you doing here? I promised Wyatt I'd stay if he left you alone. You're not supposed to come here at all!"

"Coop, you need to take them out of here"

"What are you doing?"

"Piper, this is the best plan we have, right?" Piper was still staring in shock. "But if it doesn't work, I want to know at least you guys will have time to give it another shot"

"Please, Uncle Coop. Get my mom out of here" there was sadness in his voice. Without so much as a second to spare Coop grabbed Piper and Phoebe and disappeared with them.

"Alright. Let's get this over with"

"Why do you want to see my brother? He will surely kill you"

"I.. have my reasons. You wouldn't believe me if I told you" Sam went to pat him on the shoulder. Even in his dark version, Sam was not afraid of him.

"Try me" he said taking her hand off him gently.

"I'm his wife"

"His what?"

"In… another reality, I marry your brother. You have three beautiful nephews and a gorgeous baby sister" her tears were silent on her beaten cheeks. "I just need to see him"

"Are you sure that'll bring your reality back?"

"No. I don't" she wiped her tears. "But if there's any chance of seeing him at least one more time… I'll take my chances"

"You really love him"

"No more than you" she smiled to him.

Finally, Chris led her through the demon infested house as a pledger who wanted to ask a favor of Wyatt himself.

"A human? Chris, I told you I wouldn't receive any more of them"

"Just, listen to her" Wyatt impatiently dismissed all others from the room. "Thank you" bored, he stared at Sam. "If you got something to say… this is the time" but Sam was back home where she could see him laughing and bouncing their babies in his shoulder. She didn't see the king of magic; she saw the love of her life. She walked to him without a word and even to Chris's surprise Wyatt let her kiss him. She was by his side. Nothing else mattered.

"No!" yelled Chris as Wyatt plunged an athame into her gut. "Wait!"

"I love you" she said as she bled in Chris's arms.

"Got yourself a fan there bro" laughed Wyatt.

"She meant you" Wyatt kept on laughing. "For a long time, I've stuck by you because I hoped you were still in there somewhere, but…I was wrong" Sam died in his arms right then.


	2. Fallout

As sudden as they had landed on the alternative reality, they landed back in their own selves.

Sam awoke in bed with Wyatt. She sat upright hyperventilating.

"Honey, are you alright?" he said caressing her shoulder. Sam gulped and turned to hug him. "What's wrong baby?" he kissed her head and shush her calm without any more questions.

Next morning, Piper, Phoebe and Paige went to see them.

"I'm still not sure what we're gonna say?" said Phoebe covering her face with her hands.

"We just need to see if she's alright, no big deal" said Piper not really believing her own words.

"Easy for you to say, you weren't dead" said Paige.

"Still, _Hi, sorry your husband stab you_ doesn't make quite an argument" said Phoebe. Wyatt opened the door just then letting any further ideas be unheard.

"Hi, sweety. Can we come in?" said Piper kissing her son.

"The fact you need to ask that tells me you don't bring good news" he welcomed his aunts. They sat in the living room. Wyatt stood by.

"Where's Sam?" asked Paige in a would be calm tone. Wyatt stopped them from saying anything else raising his hand in front of him.

"I'm not sure what happened, but you got guilty all over your faces" they stared at each other.

"Listen, Wyatt. There are some things we needed to clear out and accidentally we… brought her into the issues"

"Mom, I don't know exactly what you guys did, but Sam cried all night and hasn't said a word all morning" he let that sink in before turning upstairs to get her.

"I feel terrible" cried Phoebe.

"In our defense, we meant no harm" said Paige. Piper stared down without a word.

Sam was coming down the stairs accompanied by Wyatt. She had her arms crossed and was barely looking up.

"How're you doing?" asked Piper.

"How am I supposed to be doing? Apparently being just me isn't enough for you people"

"We're really sorry" said Phoebe.

"We didn't think…"

"That I would notice?"

"We cast the spell to clear our doubts. We didn't expect to drag you into our insecurities" explained Piper.

"What spell?" asked Wyatt.

"We wanted to see if… you and Sam was the best way to go for you"

"What? You didn't, mom…"

"We did" answered Paige. "We're still figuring out how we kind of dragged Sam into our vision" Wyatt was in utter disbelief, his mouth slightly opened.

"I can tell you" said Sam staring at them all. "You don't think I ask myself that same question every day?"

"Honey, don't…" Sam held his hand tightly in hers.

"You don't think I would do anything if I thought it was the best for Wyatt?"

"We couldn't be more ashamed" said Phoebe.

"Well try" said Wyatt.

"We should go" said Piper and walked to the door. Her sisters followed her in silence.

BACK AT THE MANOR…

"Well that went well" said Paige in defeat.

"I guess… we can move past it if we set things in order with them" said Phoebe sitting on the couch.

"How do you mean?" said Paige dropping her bag and slumping onto the couch next to her.

"Letting them know what we made of our insightful little trip"

"Meaning being dead for me"

"Drop it" said Phoebe "Piper?" she was still very quiet, hurt even. She sighed before speaking still standing up, her arms crossed in concern.

"I think we might have gone a bit too far on this one. God, I don't wanna loose my son" she said finally sitting down.

"Oh sweety, you're not going to loose him"

"I might have put him through a choice he didn't have to make. If he chooses her, I'll loose him and my grandchildren; if he chooses us, he looses his wife and kids. Making himself miserable is not something I want him to have to choose in any way" she took her face in her hands.

"Come on, Piper. It's going to be OK. We just need some serious making up to do" Paige said business like.

"Nothing is breaking apart our family" said Phoebe comfortingly.

"I hope you're right" said Piper putting her hands down. Her face was still reflecting every bit of fear of loosing her son.

AT WYATT AND SAM'S…

Day went smoothly. The twins had their meal and after a splashing bath were lovingly put to bed by Wyatt and Sam. Angela was still up and about but she would probably fall asleep after a while in her crib.

"Why don't go upstairs and take a nice bath?" said Wyatt to Sam, who was wiping the twins chairs.

"Sounds good" she answered as the phone rang. She dropped the kitchen towel and picked up. "Hello? Edward, how're your parents? Good, we're… fine. No, I'm fine. Have fun, bye"

"When's he coming back from London again?"

"Couple days. He says his parents were thrilled to see him"

"I bet" smiled Wyatt.

"I'll take you on the bath" she said going to kiss Wyatt. He hugged her and put his hands around her waist stealing a kiss.

"Want me to join you?"

"That'll be nice" she said as Wyatt reached her neck taking in her scent. She kissed him quickly once more and headed upstairs. Wyatt was left to finish with the dishes.

Once he was done, he went upstairs and checked on the kids. The three cribs seemed silent but Angie giggled as soon as daddy entered the room.

"Hey, missy. You should be napping" he caressed her belly and turned on the mobile above her. Angie started kicking excitedly. "Get some rest, Angie" Wyatt bent to kiss his baby girl.

He entered their bedroom ready to join Sam in the bath but she was standing by the window in her bathrobe still, staring at the empty street.

"Sam? Baby?" said Wyatt walking to her after taking his shirt off. She said nothing. Wyatt hugged her from behind placing his head on her shoulder in silence.

"You know what was the worst part?" she said still staring out the window "It wasn't the knife that hurt me…it was the thought of having lost you…I would never see you smile again or watching how you make those silly faces to the kids" she chuckled as her throat tightened.

"You're not going to loose me" he kissed her. She turned around and hugged him tight. She was trembling. Wyatt kissed her again trying to sooth her and in return she clung onto him. Wyatt felt stronger when she held on to him like this.

Their kissing became heated to such point that Wyatt swiftly picked her up and laid her on the bed. He climbed beside her without letting go off her lips, not even for a second. Without so much as a second thought, the robe she was wearing landed on the floor at his hands as he pulled off his remaining clothes. He put his fingers between hers and stared at her face breaking their contact for the first time. She stared back idealizing every little detail of his face, memorizing his every pore, every inch of his beloved deep in her heart. He couldn't believe there had been life before he met this beautiful creature, the mother of his children, his soulmate.

As they became one, all was forgotten, not a bad memory in the world could make her feel unprotected, not while he was by her side, not while they were merged together in sweet synchrony. His skin was her kingdom, the rest of the world simply didn't matter.

She clung to her beloved and he kept pressing her body to him, an inch away from each other was unthinkable. As they reached their mutual release, the two lovers whispered their love to each other over and over before falling sweetly asleep wrapped around one another.

Still covered by night time, a loud cry filled the air. Both parents awoke from their glorious sleep, still tightly wrapped around each other.

"That's Angie. She must be hungry" said Wyatt kissing the top of her head.

"Tell you what, you go get the milk and I'll go get her"

"You're on" he smiled before kissing her on the lips. Sam got out of bed putting up her hair with a butterfly brooch. She was walking to the kids' bedroom hands up her head.

"Alright, alright, no need to… Oh God!" she said as she entered the room. Angie was indeed crying her lungs out, but it wasn't hunger that woke her. There was virtually every toy in the room filling up her crib. Sam started pulling toys one by one trying to avoid hitting her daughter by mistake. "Angie, I'm coming! Mommy's here!" the baby kept crying. As Sam tried finding the baby in between the mass of toys, other things began to fall on her searching arms. "What the…Megan! Stop!" Her baby girl lifted her tiny arm in the air throwing toy after toy into her sister's crib. Sam had no idea what to do. She was in utter disbelief while still throwing toy after toy away from her littlest daughter.

"Everything alright?" said Wyatt entering the room. He saw what Megan was doing and stopped her throwing raising his palm. "Stop that, young lady!" he then swept the crib clean of toys with his other hand, finally uncovering Angie.

"I got you! Mommy's got you!" Sam carried her out the bedroom sobbing.

"She alright?" asked Wyatt trailing after them. Angie had a bump on her head, a bloody lip and several scratches, no doubt from falling story books or plastic cubes. He caressed his daughter's head and healed her. "It's alright. She's fine" said Wyatt to Sam who was still sobbing with the baby resting upon her shoulder.

"Why would Megan do that?"

"We'll talk to her in the morning. Angie can sleep in our room tonight. Come on" Wyatt kissed her forehead and led her back to their room. Sam put Angie in the crib they had for whenever the children got sick and sat on the bed. "I'll go get her milk and check on the twins, OK?" she nodded in silence.

Wyatt was trying hard not to worry about what happened, but having to explain something like that to a two year old wasn't something you would expect to be easily understood. He checked on the twins one last time before going back to his bedroom. Megan was fast asleep as if nothing had disturbed her slumber, which stirred Wyatt's worry. He caressed his daughter's head and covered her with her blankie before turning to Julian who was still awake, but quietly hugging his giraffe.

"Sorry about that, buddy. Go back to sleep" he bent to kiss his son and left.

There was no more talking that night and a sense of sorrow filled their minds. Wyatt and Sam laid wide awake holding hands, staring at the ceiling, sleep far away from their grasp.


	3. Sibling rivalry

Next morning, the breakfast operative began as scheduled.

Wyatt went to get the twins while Sam went downstairs and placed Angie on her seat to get started on breakfast. Wyatt came down the stairs tickling the kids and the air was filled with laughter, another glorious morning no doubt. Sam made the oatmeal and Wyatt cut the fruit, nothing too fancy.

"Want some coffee?" said Sam already making it.

"Have to ask?" said Wyatt leaning so the bags under his eyes were obvious.

"Good point" she answered back. Wyatt smacked her behind playfully.

"When did you say…Morning Ed!" said Wyatt interrupted by his brother-in-law's appearance.

"What happened?" he said slightly on edge.

"Coffee?" said Sam coming to hug him with a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Everything alright?" said Ed confused.

"Yeah, bro. To what exactly do we owe the honor of your person in my kitchen?" asked Sam smiling. Angie was wiggling like mad at the sight of her uncle. She started to whimper until he picked her up. "She missed you" said Sam caressing her head.

"I don't get it…I felt anxious as hell from having tea, so I figured it had to be you" Wyatt sipped his coffee staring at Sam.

"My bad. Everything's fine. We just had a… little incident with the kids. I got nervous that's all"

"Everything's fine, Edward" added Wyatt.

"What could have possibly happened to make you _that_ anxious?"

"It was nothing" she said turning to Wyatt. This was something they weren't ready to discuss with other people. However, Megan disagreed. At that moment, she flew the cup of coffee from her mother's hand and onto Julian's head. Wyatt grabbed the cup in midair, Sam bubbled the hot water and Julian raised his shield still crying on his sister's attempt to hurt him

"That's nothing?" Edward asked as Sam and Wyatt put the babies in order again. "OK. I'm on the next flight back"

"No, Ed…" said Sam going to get Angie from his arms. "Your parents waited a long time to see you. We can handle our own kids. You'll fuzz over yours someday"

"So will you, I'm sure"

"You're probably right, but still…" she grabbed his arms, absentmindedly fixing his shirt. He hugged his sister ad sighed.

"Alright, but if you need me…"

"We'll call" said Sam smiling at him. He left a second later. She went straight to hug Wyatt in a sort of defeat.

"We should…" he nodded to the living room and Sam agreed. She took Julian down and then grabbed Angie walking away from the kitchen holding her son's hand. "Up you go, little lady" said Wyatt as he took Megan in his arms.

Once they were all sitting down on the living room floor, Wyatt took a deep breath before speaking to his eldest daughter.

"You know how there are some things we shouldn't do?" he shook his head as he spoke.

"No-no, no-no" said Megan with her little finger in the air.

"That's right, the no-no's. Well, it's a no-no to use your powers on your brother and sister" Megan laughed and tossed a toy at Angie, but Julian orbed it away before it hit. "No, Megan. It's not good to hurt your brother and sister, that's a no-no, alright?" Wyatt said sure his daughter hadn't understood a word he said. He held his wife's hand trying to avoid despair.

"We're a family, Megan. Families love each other…that's right" Sam smiled as their daughter sent kisses with her little palm. "And because we love each other, we don't hurt each other" Megan stared wide-eyed. "I would never hurt you or your brother and sister… or daddy or uncle Edward" Angie giggled loudly at the sound of his name.

Sam and Wyatt stared at one another with that sense of defeat still on them. Megan crawled to Sam's lap next to Angie and picked up her toy giraffe to share with her sister. Sam kissed the top of her head and held Wyatt's hand in shared hope.

Chris orbed in after a couple minutes.

"Hey, we gotta go!" he said in a hurry, breathing shallow. Wyatt kissed Sam and stood up fast.

"Be careful" said Sam holding on to her beloved. He nodded and kissed her hand before jumping by Chris' side.

"Woah wait!"

"What, Chris?" said Wyatt exasperated.

"I meant both of you! Well, all of us!" he said looking at his nephews. Sam grabbed hold of her son with both their daughters tween her arms and grabbed Wyatt's hand, orbing all together to the manor.

As soon as they appeared at the manor, Julian's shield went up around them. Wyatt orbed them to the nursery which was prepared for contingencies. The house was swarming with demons for no apparent reason. They weren't attacking but looking around like some strange dinner party guests.

"What is this?" said Wyatt.

"So…" said a demon comfortably seated in the dining room. "This is his so-called obsession?" he stared at Sam. They knew he meant Langdon's.

"Satisfied?" asked Piper defiantly.

"Seriously, what's going on?" asked Wyatt uneasy.

"The demon's showed up and asked to meet Sam" explained Chris.

"Why?" said Wyatt yet again stepping slightly forward.

"Oh nothing much… we've lost two Sources over a woman from your family line so one does get curious" he laughed.

"Looking for a new one, are you?" said Chris.

"There has been some discussion over it, but… it's hard to be civilized amongst demons" he chuckled yet again.

"Can't say I'm surprised" said Piper.

"Oh well, satisfied indeed…" said the demon standing to leave. "Oh, almost forgot. I don't suppose you know who's been wreaking havoc in the underworld?" They couldn't mask their surprise altogether. Wyatt and Sam's eyes met for a second and they squeezed their hands tighter for a moment preparing to vanquish the entire room if necessary. The demon saw them and signaled the rest to stand down. After all, they had already tasted what they could do.

He smiled evilly at them all and shimmered away along with the rest of the demon party.

"So, apparently, the manor's on the brochure for magickal tours" said Chris.

"Not funny, not funny" said Piper arms crossed. "Do any of you know anything about this?" there was silence all around. " _Any_ of ya?" she stared at Wyatt.

"Stare all you want mom… it wasn't us" he turned to look at her but all eyes were on them. They were obviously onto them.

"Look, it's no use fighting amongst us, which is clearly what the demons wanted to achieve" said Chris very much like his father.

"Chris is right. Let's focus on what we know now. I'm calling the girls" said Leo kissing the top of Piper's head.

"I'm checking on the kids" said Sam kissing Wyatt before leaving the room.

"I'll get the book of shadows" said Chris.

"Who do you think is behind all this?" said Wyatt trying to shave the pressure his mother was undoubtedly giving him. He walked to the nearest couch. Piper sighed and followed suit.

"Don't know, but whoever it was he's dangerously powerful"

After hours of debating who the new threat might be, spirits were running high and patience low.

"Look, whoever it was it's sort of on our side, right? I mean, after all he got Langdon off our backs" said a positive Paige.

"Maybe. Still it could be they just wanted him out of the spot" said Phoebe.

"We've been through this before, nobody on either side… good or bad… should have this kind of power, using it as he or she sees fit" Wyatt was silent. He didn't agree with her, but he thought arguing of any kind might bring the issue too close to home.

"It may well mean exposure" said Leo agreeing.

"I think for now… we should be on the lookout for signs of any kind of new leader to de demons" said Wyatt trying to set the matter down. All these speculations made it more and more uncomfortable for him and Sam. They had gotten rid of the demon, period. There should be no more questioning about it. He was sure that if any other came along they would be more than sufficient to put him under.

"Wyatt's right" said Chris. "What else can we do, but take it as a good thing… at least for now"

Everybody was on edge the next few days, they knew this sudden chaos in the underworld would surely come back to bite them in the ass.

"And you didn't think this was at all relevant to call me?" said an outraged Edward to his sister who was busy making lunch. She flinched at his tone.

"No, cause we got it under control"

"Somebody killed the underworld's leader, that same guy who tried to kill us for our powers, same guy who turned mom into a demon, same guy…"

"Ed…"

"I can see how everything's under bloody control!" he said fire surging through his arm up and down.

"Ah, I see you two are caught up, are you? Evening Edward" said Wyatt coming down the stairs. "Do try not to burn anything down, will you?" he took an apple and headed out the front door after kissing Sam with a mouthful.

"Where's he going?" asked Edward exhausted of not knowing.

"He's going to the manor to help Chris look in the book of shadows for possible replacements for Langdon" he stared. "What?"

"Nothing. I guess they should be the ones to do it"

"I don't see where you're going. They are far more experienced than we are"

"I know, I agree, but we should be doing something"

"Tell you what, why don't you take over Brightest Blessings for now? That should keep you busy"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean. We all could use some distraction from… you know… all this" she waved her hands in the air. "I've been helping Piper with the club since she started planning out the restaurant, so I'm pretty busy myself. So… whadaya think?" she said putting the spatula down.

"I'll think about it"

"That's a good boy" she smiled to her brother.

Full moon night. The babies were all asleep except one who started wailing for attention: Angela. Wyatt and Sam were so tired of all the coming and going lately that they might have just sleep through it, but there was a knock on their door after a while.

"This yours?" said Edward carrying a fuzzy baby. "She orbed onto my bed" he explained shushing the baby looking tired himself. He was still carrying traces of jetlag.

"She orbed?" said Wyatt groggily while Sam took the baby tween her arms. "I'm sorry, Ed"

"We'll take care of her" sighed Sam patting their daughter's back to soothe her crying. "Night Ed" she kissed her brother before he headed back to bed to the ground floor. Wyatt and Sam stared at each other in silent conference and then headed to the nursery. Both twins were asleep. They put the baby down and she started fuzzing again.

"I think she's wet" said Sam kissing the soles of her tiny feet.

"I'll get the diaper" said Wyatt kissing Sam's head, walking half-asleep to find a clean diaper.

"I know, Angie. Mommy's gonna make the pee pee go away" she started cleaning her as she kept crying. "There, there, sweatheart"

"Here's the baby powder" said Wyatt handing her the diaper as well. He rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes.

"Thank you, honey. I'm almost done"

"Why is she's still crying? Does she have a temperature?" asked Wyatt.

"Not that I can tell, but she does have a rash" Sam said putting some ointment on her. "I think that's…" she gave a huge gulp of air as their baby orbed away from the crib. Sam turned instinctively to her other children and saw Megan raising her little head just above the crib's edge. "I don't think Angie's orbing" she said to Wyatt pointing to their eldest daughter, who after sending away her sister went back to sleep.

"Let's go get Angie" said Wyatt. "We'll talk it over in the morning" he added pulling Sam's arm leading her out of the room. "Maybe Megan just got scared from the crying" Sam rested her head on his chest and he caressed her back. They were both a little scared.

They walked down the stairs hand in hand and knocked on Edward's room.

"What's going on?"

"Sorry she woke you again" Sam apologized.

"What are you talking about? You woke me just now" he rubbed his eyes.

"Angie's not with you?" said Wyatt wide-eyed.

"Should she be?" asked Edward now confused.

"Wyatt" said Sam panicking.

"I'll call mom" he ran to the phone and dialed to the manor. "Mom? Oh Chris! Listen, I need you to look for Angela in the house, search the entire house, wake up mom and dad" he hung up.

"Paige? Is Angela at your house?"

"Aunt Phoebe, Hi, it's Wyatt, listen, can you check if Angela's at your home?"

"What's going on?" said Chris orbing in. "Where is she?"

"Megan orbed her away"

"What?"

"We've checked with the aunts" said Wyatt grabbing fistfuls of his own hair.

"Brightest Blessings!" said Sam and Wyatt orbed away.

"Wait a second! You can find her!" said Chris.

"Who? Me?" said Edward.

"You and Sam, remember? In the attic" it dawned on them how they'd conjured up Megan once.

Without another word, Edward and Sam held hands, closed their eyes and thought of Angie, but Sam's hands were shaking.

"You can do this" said Edward.

"Just breathe" said Chris. The twins sat on the floor and tried relaxing their muscles. After a moment, every noise in the room went out and she could only hear Angela's crying. Suddenly, the cries grew louder and louder until the baby appeared lying in front of Chris who was kneeling next to them. "I got her" he picked her up and kissed her head. "Her skin is cold. She was outside" he said as he handed her to her mother. Edward patted her shoulder and Chris started sending a text message around: _Found her, she's fine._


	4. The surprise

Piper couldn't wait till morning and demanded they went straight to the manor. She took Angie in her arms and squeezed her close.

"What the hell happened? How could she get lost?"

"Mom, it's nothing. She's back now. We'll make sure it won't happen again"

"How could it?!" Leo grabbed Piper's shoulders.

"What your mother means is that maybe we could help you with whatever happened. I know you want your independence and we get it, but there's no shame in needing help" Piper shushed her grandchild both still upset.

"Alright. We've been dealing with a bit of sibling rivalry from Megan" explained Wyatt. He took a deep breath. Truth was they not only didn't want to include more people in this, but didn't know how to exactly.

"There's been a couple incidents where Megan used her powers against her brother and sister" Piper and Leo were wide-eyed in silence. "We've been discussing the possibility of binding her powers, but we were hoping we could find some other way to deal with this"

"OK" said Piper slightly less enraged. "Have you tried talking to her about this, making her understand…?"

"We have" answered Wyatt.

"Are Julian and Angela…?"

"They're fine. We've been handling it fine, but… apparently, it's escalating" said Sam. There was a moment's pause where everybody kept silent.

"Tell you what" Chris broke the silence. "Why doesn't Megan stay here tonight? We can all a good night's sleep" they all nodded in turn. Wyatt and Sam said good night to their daughter still tightly in grandma's arms and orbed home.

Angie slept wrapped in his little aunt Melinda.

Piper was standing at the threshold staring at both of them; so many things going through her mind. She walked away slowly careful not to wake them.

A situation like this called for a brainstorming meeting from the clan, so Piper and Leo suggested calling the sisters to get different perspectives on magical children's sibling rivalry. Wyatt and Sam were on board but uncomfortably so, they hated having things out of their control, especially if those things involved their children.

"OK. So… we're all ears" said Sam once they caught everybody up to the current events. They all sat in the Solarium while the children played on the padded floor. Chris was sitting on the floor with them, letting Megan play with his tablet. She was having a real blast learning how to record everybody in the room.

"Well, the girls did get a little feisty among each other, but it didn't go beyond pulling their ponytails and hovering way up" said Coop to Phoebe's agreement.

"I got the sharing thing all the time, but we just…handle it with time outs" said Paige.

"Exactly how is orbing a toy out the window a time out?" smiled Henry.

"The one time that happened! Besides… not quite the issue here" Paige defended herself eyeing her husband playfully scolding.

"OK. Wyatt used his powers a lot when he was little, but he never really fought with Chris. If at all they teamed up to drive me crazy"

"Thanks, mom" said Wyatt rubbing Sam's shoulders.

"Have you talked to them about good and bad?" asked Phoebe.

"That's a good one. In this family they are exposed to a lot of that so an early talk couldn't hurt" said Leo.

"We've talked about the things that are allowed and not allowed, but I guess we could focus on that" said Wyatt looking at Sam who nodded. There was an awkward pause.

"I'm sure it has come up, but… have you thought of binding her powers for a few years?" Sam opened her mouth to talk but it was Piper who answered.

"Paige, we've always believed that our powers come to us when we're ready for them… for a reason. We need to try and find another way"

"Somebody needs a diaper change around here and I'm afraid to check just where it comes from… ugh" said Chris covering his nose and to that tone the sour meeting was over.

Couple weeks went by and things seemed to get slowly back into place. The twins didn't have any major incidents beyond the usual food fights which were well received on both ends. Edward was in full on training at Brightest Blessings with Michelle bossing him around making him wonder: who was indeed the owner of the shop, his sister or her. Sam was swamped in preparations in P3 wedding season had begun apparently. Phoebe's birthday was coming so that kept some busy with ideas for the party. It was impossible to agree on what Phoebe would like when opinions came pouring into the pot. They were heading straight to a romantic (Cooper's idea), fun (their daughters), family only (Piper), extrovert (Sam), quiet (Paige had been overworking) party… ?

Phoebe was feeling a bit overwhelmed as the days went by closing in on her birthday.

"Come on, Phoebe!" said Sam entering her apartment one afternoon, just a couple days before the birthday celebration. "You're having lunch with _moi,_ you lucky girl" she added making a would-be-sexy pose. Phoebe laughed.

"Am I now?"

"Oh come on, don't make me beg"

"I just…" but before she could say any more Sam was already on her knees with a full on puppy face, which just made Phoebe laugh again. She said goodbye to Coop and the kids and the both of them headed off to a place nearby.

Lunch was deliciously covered by menial chatter through and through, which was altogether a blessing for such busy days. Both girls were sipping the remains of their tea in the shade leaning on the back of their chairs as far as they would allow.

"Come on, say it" said Sam dropping her head backwards lazily.

"It was a good idea"

"Thank-you" Sam smiled at a clearly relaxed Phoebe.

"It's so relaxing to just enjoy the day" she added sipping her iced tea.

"Listen, I kind of have to talk to you"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I made some calls and it turns out an old friend of mine has a rundown place he is willing to lease for practically nothing, which can work for Piper but…"

"You're afraid she might turn it down" Phoebe understood.

"So…need some wisdom-ness from you"

"Oh I don't know. It really could go either way" she laughed. Both of them sat talking of the pros and cons of the situation. "If we could get Leo to look it over maybe he could get some of it fixed… at least enough for Piper to accept the challenge"

"Sounds good. Now the real problem is going to be keeping all of this from Piper"

"I actually live away, so… good luck with that" she playfully mocked Sam. They had a house of their own, but still most of the time at the manor which was going to be a real trick these next days.


	5. Freeway

"James is coming to take us there this afternoon" said Sam to Leo, who was officially in on the secret.

"Wyatt's staying with the kids then?"

"All settled"

That afternoon, Leo and Sam went to a café downtown to wait for James.

"So how do you know this guy?" asked Leo.

"Long story. Not happy either" Leo waited patiently. Sam sighed. "Alright… umh, we lived together just before I went to work at P3"

"You were together then"

"Not exactly. We were… addicts" she said looking down.

"You've come a long way, no shame in it"

"Anyway, he was a lot more into it than I was. I just didn't want to be on my own. I had been on the streets before and it wasn't a place I would have chosen to go back to" she stopped letting the embarrassing info sink in. "So… I had to take him to the ER more than once. Ended up there a couple times myself"

"Did you love him?"

"Not in the way he wanted me to… I told him that and we just sort of didn't mention it again"

"Haven't changed a bit…" said a voice behind her.

"James!" she stood up to hug him.

"…still beautiful" James smiled.

"How wonderful to see you all cleaned up"

"Didn't clean up so bad yourself" he laughed.

"This is my Father-in-law, Leo. This is James"

"How're you doing?"

"Nice meeting you" answered Leo politely.

"Alright, let's do this" said Sam excited. "Leo and I will follow you, is it far?"

"Umh… what if we take my car and Leo could follow us in your car… give us some time to catch up" Sam turned to Leo.

"I'm OK with it if Sam says it's alright" said Leo.

"Is it far?"

"Not much, just past the freeway" it was settled then. Sam and James drove on with Leo not far behind.

"So… what are you been up to?" James initiated the conversation.

"Well… I got a store"

"Really? What kind?"

"It's kind of a magical store. Sell candles and stuff. Business is good"

"I'm glad. So…"

"So…?"

"Are you happy?"

"So much"

"Wow. I'm glad you're doing good. When you left" Sam shifted uncomfortable in her seat. "I thought that somehow you'd be back"

"Oh James…"

"I thought that all I needed was to get my shit together and we could be OK again" she didn't know what to say. "Bah, that's done with. So, what you into now?"

"How do you mean?" she smiled amicably, glad the remembrance was over.

"My business is good as well. Bought me an apartment, this car… not too shabby" he smiled. "I upgraded a bit from the filth we used to do"

"You're still using?" said Sam surprised.

"You're not? When did you become such a bummer? You used to be fun. What happened? Married life wore you down?"

"I thought…"

"What?" James turned to her and back. "Look, try this" he said un-pocketing a small cylinder and making a line on his hand. "It's good stuff"

"I think I might have made a mistake" said Sam nervously.

"Come on, it's just a lin…" were his last words as Sam threw him sideways with a gush of air. James lost control of the vehicle and cracked the barrier between the lanes hitting head on a car on the opposite lane.

Leo pulled over close to where they had landed and ran to their aid.

"Sam!" he called over and over trying to find a way into the wreckage. People around were getting the other injured away from the crash. Leo kept checking bloody faces in search of her, but she must have been in the car still. The driver from the head on encounter was all over the windshield tragically dead. After desolating moments, he found a side of the car opened enough to crawl in. He did while people kept telling him to come back. He was barely inside the wreckage when he saw her, oddly twisted and bloody as well, the other side of the car was smashed down to the ground with James underneath no doubt. Leo tried to reach Sam but he could barely touch her with the tips of his fingers. Then he saw it, a ray of hope… she started breathing rapidly unable to move an inch. "Don't move!" said Leo. "I'm here"

"Leo?" she cried in a hoarse voice.

"Yes, it's me" Soon, Leo was being dragged out of there when paramedics arrived on the scene. They used everything they could to get her out and by then they were surrounded by patrols, the media and any other meddler that could find his way into the bystander wall.

Leo boarded with her on the ambulance. He was ready to call Wyatt and by the shape his daughter in law was in they didn't have a moment to waste. Sam however used her less injured arm to pull it away from him then she pointed to her half-shut eye. Leo got her message and took her hand. If Leo made that call Wyatt would be orbing on the spot and exposure would be secured with all the media around.

In what took seemingly hours, they arrived at the hospital along with all the injured from the wreckage. Sam was taken to an ER room still conscious. Leo went to the quietest hall he could find away from the crowded emergency room and phoned home. Wyatt, Piper and Chris orbed into an empty room. Wyatt stormed to find her but Piper and Chris held him back.

"Wyatt, you can't heal her in the middle of this circus!" said Chris.

"So I should just let her die, then?"

"Go" said Piper, putting Chris on hold. "He has to" she added. Wyatt fought his way into the ER room Sam was in. In the room alone there were at least seven people. She was unconscious by now. Doctors clipped and probed here and there. Wyatt took her hand tightly in his. "Arm's broken" brought him back to the room. A nurse was reading her X-rays. "The leg's broken in at least three places"

"Let's drain some of the blood from the eye" said a doctor being handed a needle. Suddenly, Sam flat-lined and Wyatt felt as if the world had gone from beneath his feet. "Damn it, paddles!" the doctor continued. A nurse had to pull him away as the doctor yelled clear…again… and again.

"Come on!" said the doctor and started compressions. A breathe of life went through Wyatt when he heard the faint beep go on the screen. He had to act now or not at all; his family managed to reach the room and were looking through the door; he gave Piper a nod and she burst in the room and froze them all. "Quick" she said turning to see if somebody was coming. Chris and Leo went just outside to patrol. Wyatt wasted no time and started healing her, but… he couldn't. "What's the matter?" asked a nervous Piper.

"It's not working" he tried again. Nothing happened.

"Someone's coming" said Chris re-entering the room. "What…?" Piper had to unfreeze them and went on as normal. Wyatt felt the warmth of his tears running down his face. He stood there holding her hand as the doctor's stabilized her best they could before taking her to a bed. Wyatt helped with the cast identifying himself as a med student. Still, he tried to heal her when no one was looking but it wasn't working.


	6. The choice

He sat next to her bed holding her hand and caressing her hair, half wrapped in bandages.

"Tell me what to do…" he whispered. "How do I fix this?" he didn't dare to think this was it. So much happiness in his life just couldn't go away that easy, that simple. "Your children… our children need you, I need you… tell me how to right this… please" he begged to whoever may listen. Filled with the power of all magic and he felt empty, useless, he held on to her hand as if he were holding the last drop of life in her body.

"Halliwell?" a doctor came in from nowhere half reading a chart. Wyatt turned surprised without letting go of his wife's hand. "She has a severe concussion on the left side of her head; Her right arm is seriously injured and her left leg is shattered at the bone" the doctor said unceremoniously. Wyatt eyed him for a moment, he had just noticed the doctor wore black.

"Who are you?" he puzzled over the chart in his hand.

"I'm afraid I'm no stranger in your family"

"What are you doing here?" Wyatt said defiantly.

"I've come to offer you a choice"

"For what exactly?"

"Her end will ultimately come, as it does to all living things, but as a sort of… kindness to your family for everything you have done for such a long time, it is in my power to offer a choice"

"Who are you?"

"Don't you know by now?" Wyatt had a pretty good idea but didn't dare say it out loud. "I'm the Angel of Death" were the words afraid to be pronounced. Wyatt couldn't think of anything to say to him that he hadn't heard a thousand times already.

"A choice?" he whispered.

"Not quite the one you're thinking, dear boy. More of a time biding choice… like I said… death is inevitable, but her end doesn't have to be now. I'll leave it up to you"

"Doesn't sound like much of a choice if you already know I won't let her die"

"You'll figure out a way to save her just before her time runs out. If you decide to do so, you'll be facing serious consequences… some which you might not be willing to pay. But it you let her go now, willingly, other choices will be presented to you, all for the greater good"

Wyatt closed his eyes for a moment, all he could see was her and the kids. They meant everything to him. Just then, Chris entered the room. Wyatt instinctively turned to the Angel, but he was long gone, deserting him with his choice.

"Hey, thought you might need it" he said offering his brother a cup of coffee. "How's she doing?" Wyatt tried smiling in gratitude but failed. "Everybody's out there, mom and dad say you don't have to worry about anything cause the kids and… everything's taken care of" Chris spoke slowly. He patted his brother on the back feeling his pain even from afar. "Everything's gonna be alright… right?"

"I'm not sure Chris, I'm just not sure"

"One thing I am sure off… is that if you ask us to do anything that might help… I mean anything at all… we would do it for you… we hold each other always, no matter what" he put his palm on Sam's good leg and turned to leave. Wyatt's mind started racing within the second. They could find something in the BOS, buy some more time to think, switch her health with something else… his thoughts raced so fast in circles that he felt dizzy. He stumbled for a second on the stool next to the bed, which made Chris walk back. "Watch out, bro. I'll bring you something to eat, keep your stronger self, huh?" and after those words, clarity.

"Stronger. She made me stronger"

"Yeah, but you gotta stay strong for her now" he could hear Chris in the background. His attention on a particular thought: if Sam worked as an enhancer for his powers, in theory so would her brother. "Wyatt? Hello? Are you alright?"

"Where's Edward?"

"Umh… he's at the manor with the kids…" was all the explaining Chris managed to give in the split second Wyatt allowed him to. He grabbed his brother in mid-sentence and orbed to the manor straight to the nursery.

"You stay here" he said to Chris, while grabbing Edward by the arm and orbing back to the hospital room. "Help me" he said to his brother in law. Ed mouthed for a second taking in the shock his sister was in. he ultimately said nothing and nodded.

Wyatt grabbed his hand and then took a deep breath dwelling on the Angel's choice for a second before taking the decision his heart told him to: he started healing her once again and this time it had a different effect. It was like a lamp malfunctioning, half-on half-off. Her wounds would heal half-way and then worsened again. Edward landed on Wyatt's same thought and focused on healing her, at that moment, her injuries lessened, and Edward started to bend in pain from his leg, arm and head where he shared his sister's pain. Wyatt picked him up but Edward said "Keep going!" so he did. It took an enormous amount of effort but Sam started to look better and better while Edward shared half her injuries, Wyatt didn't stop till her vitals were stable. He panted and Edward was sitting on the floor now.

"Chris, I don't know…" entered Piper with her cellphone. "What? Are you alright, Edward?" she helped him up, forgetting the phone. He saw Sam half healed as she did so. "We need to go" she said to Wyatt. "You pack it up in here, I'll pack it up out there" she left the room. Everybody followed the "running for the hills" protocol and were soon back at the manor.

Sam was still out so they put her in Wyatt's old room, while he took care of Edward's injuries. He could heal just fine. Everybody wondered why Sam was different, and Wyatt knew, but he didn't feel ready to explain the decision he had made, not yet anyway.

Wyatt sat next to his wife still holding her hand. He took her bandages off to reveal a bruise in the last stages of healing covering half her face. Her arm was still in bad shape, so half the bandages on it had to be replaced. Her leg was bruised beyond recognition but her bones seemed to have healed well enough. He helplessly tried to heal it, but he reminded himself that having here was more than enough.

Sam woke up in the middle of the night, half the family was staying tonight. Wyatt had finally fallen asleep next to her. She got out of bed, trying not to wake him. She needed water badly, so she went downstairs. She couldn't remember ever being this thirsty. Phoebe lied on a couch with Cooper caressing her hair while Paige slept opposite them. Sam tried really hard not to wake anybody on her way down to the kitchen. She limped quietly step by step. She reached the kitchen staring at the floor as she went.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Piper snapped her out of her trance. She ran to her and helped her sit on a chair. "You shouldn't be up at all" she hugged her.

"I just got so thirsty" Sam explained. Piper saw to that quick enough. She drank glass after glass.

"Pace yourself there" said Piper.

"I'm sorry. I'm fine" said laughed gasping for her normal breath, wiping the remains of her last glass of water. "What are you doing up?"

"After today I just couldn't sleep" Loud steps were coming.

Wyatt entered the kitchen in a rush. Sam stood up and he took her in his arms without another word. They kissed and the world just stopped. Piper left the kitchen giving them a pat on the back.

"I thought I'd lost you"

"I think… for a moment you did" she cried and kissed him around the lips.


	7. Rugrats

Uncle Henry came early in the morning to pick up Paige. They were all just finishing with the bagels Piper had made the dough for the day before.

"Want some, honey?" said Paige offering her bitten bagel. Henry took a bite.

"Please, Henry, dig in! there's plenty to go around" invited Piper.

"I would love some. Thank you, Piper" he sat next to Paige. "Could you pass this to Wyatt?" he gave Phoebe an envelope. "Those are the hospital records"

"Thank you Uncle Henry, Samuel will have a look to make sure everything's OK" Phoebe handed him the envelope. When Wyatt touched the envelope in her hand she heard a baby cry loudly and shivered.

"You OK, honey?" said Coop. Phoebe swallowed hard but smiled anyway. She would talk to him about it later.

After breakfast, Wyatt and Sam went upstairs to their old room. Piper and Leo insisted they stayed at least overnight.

"It was careless of you to walk around like that" said Wyatt opening the envelope Uncle Henry had given them. "You could have hurt yourself. I'm not all sure you're healed properly" Sam went to sit by him.

"Was it really that bad?" she whispered looking down.

"Hey" Wyatt lifted her chin. "I wouldn't let anything break us apart, not anything" he kissed her tenderly on the lips. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"We shouldn't give too many details to Samuel or he'll go crazy worry"

"I agree, which is why it's a good idea to go through these first" he said flipping through the papers in the envelope. Sam took her leg X-ray and stared at her currently overly bruised leg. Wyatt held his breath.

"Something wrong?" Wyatt swallowed dry and stared sadly at Sam. "Wyatt? What is it?"

"Your lab results… they found traces of amniotic fluid in the blood… they tested the blood from the hemorrhage…" Sam's heart sank.

"I didn't…"

"I know" said Wyatt. He caressed her arm slowly. She stared at the floor, her eyes empty.

"Um… could we… keep this between us? At least for now?" Wyatt nodded and kissed her forehead holding her close.

Next few days, Wyatt and Sam were noticeably distracted. Wyatt had death's warning on his mind, while Sam couldn't help but feeling she somehow let him down once again.

"Chris?" said Sam knocking on his room.

"Hey" he said from behind her. She jumped and lost balance, but managed to hang on to him to avoid falling.

"Don't do that!" she laughed nervously.

"Sorry" he chuckled. "What's up?"

"Not much. I just wondered if you wanted to catch a movie or something"

"Where's Wyatt? You guys fighting?"

"No, not at all. I just needed to get out of the house and I'm still limping so… I could use the company"

"Of course. Sure, you guys OK?"

"Positive"

Chris and Sam went to the movies and took a walk in the park afterwards.

"So… are you gonna tell me what's wrong?" said Chris finishing his popcorn.

"Nothing!" she laughed a bit too hard. "Let's defragment your life for a change!" Chris laughed.

"Alright. What you wanna know?"

"When was the last time you had a date?"

"Um… haven't really met anybody who I'd like to date lately"

"Come on, didn't use to be that hard!"

"I've been focusing on other things, that's all"

"OK. And as much as appreciate all you do for us, you do have a life of your own… or you should"

"It's hard. Maybe it wasn't before, but now… I see you guys together and I find myself… unsure"

"How do you mean?"

"Let's say I go back to dating. What if I don't find what you guys have? You've kinda set the bar too high for me"

"Oh, Chris! You're… you're just too wonderful for that to happen. I have no doubt there is a woman out there who would be so lucky to have you love her" she kissed him on the cheek. Chris was brick red.

IN THE UNDERWORLD…

"Kosp tried tapping into the Source's power, but he wasn't strong enough, he couldn't even get close enough" a demon was saying to others.

"I might have an answer to that" said a woman dressed in black. "The name's Elak" the demons started throwing fireballs at her. She didn't move, but smiled. As the first fireball was going to hit her, she switched places with the demon who had been talking. She sat there laughing at how their fireballs hit him instead. "Are we done with the demonstration?" the rest of the demons remained silent. "I can prove that I'm more powerful than you could imagine"

"How are you planning to do that?"

"Killing one of them"

"Like that's never been tried before"

The only one who has succeeded was Shax and even he got wasted at the end"

"It's either wait to be amazed or being blown up" she smiled triumphantly.

MEANWHILE…

Chris and Sam finally made it back home.

"How was it?" said Wyatt coming to greet his wife at the door.

"It was nice to be out. Auwful movie though"

"Oh come on, a little nudity never hurt anybody"

"What was the movie again?" laughed Wyatt.

"Wouldn't you want to know. How are the children?"

"We were on a movie marathon of our own, but after the third time Elsa sang, she had to go. We're switching to The Pagemaster now"

"Good. I'll join in. Come on, Chris, we'll uncork some formula… crank the pop corn…"

"I'm in for a wild night" he said high five-ing Wyatt and taking off his jacket and joining his nephew and nieces who were playing on the living room carpet each with their respective bottles of milk.

By the time the movie was over it was pretty late and everybody had cuddled somewhere amongst the blankets on the floor and was happily sleeping. Wyatt and Sam were cuddled together; Julian was spread lazily beside Angie; and Uncle Chris was face down next to Megan with her little arm trying to hug him.

As the night went by, Megan awoke and walked to the TV screen banging it for entertainment as if nothing had interrupted their cartoon filled evening. Giving up on her effort, she turned to a basket of toys they kept by the couch and rummaged her way to one of her favorite books: Hansel and Gretel. She laughed and turned the pages remembering how they read it to her over and over. Then, with the tip of her finger she touched the book and some of the characters flew out the window. Disappointed nobody had come play with her, she threw the book away and grabbed another: The little mermaid. She smiled and tapped the book again; another character out the window. She slammed a couple more books, sending at least four more characters out. Angry now cause nobody was willing to play with her, she started to cry in frustration which woke up the crowd. Sam was the first up to go and get her.

"What's wrong honey? Can't sleep anymore?"

"I better take them up to their beds" said Wyatt stretching. He took Julian and went over to get Megan.

"I'll check Angie's diaper before she goes to bed"

"I brought her bag" said Wyatt grabbing it from beside a couch. "Just in case" Sam smiled and kissed him in exchange for the diaper bag. She then took Angie, still asleep, onto the couch to check her dirty diaper.

"I better go home" said Chris yawning.

"Don't be silly, it's way too late. Why don't you stay in Edward's room? He's been staying in Brightest Blessings last couple days"

"Want me to get her upstairs?" said Chris holding his niece.

"I got it" said Wyatt coming down the stairs. "You get some sleep bro" he added grabbing Chris by the back of the neck playfully.

Sam started tidying up the living room, picking up the plates, bottle, toys, books and blankets. Wyatt came down, baby monitor at hand. He hugged her, kissing the back of her neck.

"Need a hand?"

"Wyatt"

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen these books" she turned the page on a couple of them.

"What about them?"

"They got blank pages. Some pages are just… gone"

"What? That's impossible!" He took the book in his hand staring at the blanks himself.

"Guys!" said Chris running out of the bedroom and shutting the door behind him. "We might have a bit of a problem" he said just as a hook went through the door he was leaning on.


	8. Diversion

"Oh my God!" said Sam exchanging stares with her husband. They checked the rest of the books in the basket and there were three blanked books: The little mermaid, Hook and The three little pigs.

"Phone tree" said Sam in defeat and Wyatt and Chris started dialing while she prepared the kids. They would go to headquarters at the manor. After a couple minutes they were ready to go, standing by the front door.

"Ready?" said Wyatt but before they orbed away another hole was punched through the door.

"What do we do about him?" said Chris.

"We don't have that many crystals around the house" said Wyatt answering everybody's thought of an energy cage.

"I'll try freezing him" Chris looked confused. "Oh, just open the door!" Wyatt stood beside her as Chris let the pirate out. Once it tried to run out Sam hit him full blast with watery ice, turning it into a statue.

"That'll work" said Chris before they orbed out.

ONCE BACK AT THE MANOR…

Parties arrived one by one, catching up on the situation.

"A little token from his daddy, right?" Phoebe smiled to Piper.

"What? What I do?" said Wyatt.

"Oh, nothing! She's rubbing in our faces how you conjured a dragon out of the TV"

"I did?"

"That's it! No more cartoons for these kids" said Sam.

"Focus!" said Paige. "Exactly, who are we looking for here?"

"Hansel, Gretel, the witch, the little mermaid and the three little pigs"

"I thought you said four books" said Phoebe.

"Yeah, but we got Hook frozen in their living room" said Chris.

"OK, people! We need to spread!" Piper took a deep breath. "Wyatt, Sam and Edward take the witch. Be very careful" she turned to Phoebe's clan. "Phoebe, Paige and I will look for the pigs; While, Chris, Praline and Paddy get Hansel and Gretel; Penelope, Patricia and Henry will deal with the little mermaid"

"How come I gotta go look for a _mermaid,_ while Bianca stays and do nothing?!" said Henry to his cousin.

"I'm protecting the little ones!" retorted Bianca. "Aunt Paige, tell him!"

"Henry that's enough!" said Paige to her son.

"Bianca's got a responsibility like the rest of us, Henry. She can sense if something hateful is near so she can call us back in case of an emergency" Phoebe mediated for her daughter holding a transparent stone in her hand; in case of an emergency they would all lit up if somebody was in danger.

"Are we going or what? There are fictional characters loose in the city people! Come on!" said Piper. She kissed Wyatt and Chris, while Phoebe hugged Praline and Paddy goodbye. Paige was giving last minute instructions to Henry Jr., Penelope and Patricia.

PHOEBE, PAIGE AND PIPER:

"Here piggy, piggy…" Phoebe was saying while walking down the empty streets.

"How are we supposed to even find these pigs?" said a discouraged Piper.

"Bacon factory?" said Paige tentatively.

"Get serious!" said Piper. "Where do we even begin?"

"OK. Let's focus here. The pigs were trying to build a house in the book, so… construction materials?" said Phoebe.

"I very much doubt there is a source of construction hay around here"

"No, but aren't they building a new store nearby?" Paige answered her sister.

"Yes!" Phoebe said triumphantly. They ran a couple blocks to the site and sure enough there were the pigs each in its own business.

"Should we say we're visiting our grandmas?" asked Paige.

"Wrong story" said Phoebe.

"Right"

"I got an idea. Excuse me… Hi" said Piper walking closer to the first pig who was comfortably seated outside his Styrofoam house. It was oddly shaped by pieces of torn foam. "That's a… nice house you got there"

"It is most wonderful" said the cheerful little fella.

"Why don't ya… get comfy and read the paper?" she said picking up half a page of newspaper lying on the floor. As soon as the piglet touched it, it absorbed him back into paper. This made the other two pigs run into their homes.

"Great, now how do we get them out?" said Paige.

"No need" said Phoebe now with an idea of her own. She walked to the second pig's house and pushed on the side. The whole mound of wood just collapsed apparently connected by nothing than sheer gravity. Piper slammed the paper onto his head and it absorbed him as well.

"Alright. That was easy enough, anyone up to climbing down the chimney?" Paige suggested.

"We know how that turns out, so no!" said Piper.

"I got it" Paige took the paper with the other two pigs on it and orbed into the pig's house, then orbed out with his fresh catch on paper.

"That was brilliant" smiled Piper.

"Not bad, I could almost move in but tiny walls aren't my thing" Paige dusted her jacket.

CHRIS, PRALINE, PADDY:

"Are these children good or bad?" asked Paddy.

"Bits me!" said Chris. "Never got that book"

"They're not essentially bad, but they did eat another person's house"

"It was made of candy" said Paddy to her sister.

"Be that as it may…" Praline was ready to explain herself further as it was her custom when a loud crash startled them all, bringing their attention to their left. They instinctively followed the source.

"Well, I think we found them" said Chris standing close to a broken front glass.

"How do you know it's them?" said Paddy. The store sign read "Sweet tooth Jack's".

"I think our chances our pretty good"

"Come on, silent alarm must have been set off when they broke the glass" said Chris walking into the store. Certainly enough, there were two chubby kids eating their weight in candy like there was no tomorrow. "Now what?" At that moment, a cell phone buzz startled the kids who ran into hiding. "Good timing!"

"It's a text from Aunt Piper!" said Praline exasperated at the reprimand from her cousin. "Paper"

"Shall we text Scissors back?" laughed Paddy to find no amuse from the others. Chris took a napkin from the counter to his right and started searching for Hansel and Gretel.

"We don't have much time" said Chris turning to his cousins. They spread around trying to beat the clock. Hansel was munching happily under a donut counter. Chris saw him and tip toed his way closer, but was heard at the last moment. Chris jumped after the scurrying boy but landed face flat on the floor cursing his luck. "Praline!" he shouted as the kid ran towards her end. Praline nervously took a flyer from the checkout counter and smacked the kid with it as he ran by her. One down.

Gretel was up an exhibitor of lollipops trying to get to the highest and biggest one there was. She was well out of reach.

"I'm pretty sure that one's just for décor" Paddy was trying to reason with her, but her advice came a second too late. Gretel feel from the rack. Paddy nervously stretched her arms to catch her, not thinking of anything else to do. The girl smiled at her sucking on the last lollipop she had managed to grab. "Um… guys?" Chris came with the napkin and absorbed her right in it.

PENELOPE, PATRICIA, HENRY JR:

"So… the ocean, the aquarium… any ideas?" said Henry as they drove looking around for a mermaid.

"She can't be that far" said Penelope from the back seat.

"Why not?" said Henry.

"Keep a positive mind, dear brother" said Patricia.

"What for? We got no idea where she is? We're chasing water here"

"Or better yet, shut up" added Patricia.

"There!" said Penelope pointing to a fountain just beyond a gate in some rich place.

"See?" said Patricia slapping his brother's arm.

"Alright already, don't get violent on me!"

"Let's go!" said Penelope running out the car as soon as they came to a halt. "Wait…" she said looking at her cell.

"Isn't it kind of a bad time to text your gals?" said Henry to another slap on the arm.

"It's from Chris… Paper. Paper?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Patricia.

"Don't know, but I got…" said Henry rummaging in his pockets. "A receipt for a burrito" his sisters both stared. "What? I was hungry" meanwhile, the little mermaid was indeed splashing happily in the fountain, apparently undetected. "Any ideas?" he said after a while. They were all staring at the tall gate in front of them.

"Easy, we'll just orb in" said Penelope and she was just about to do it when Henry held her arm back.

"Wait, sis" he pointed to the top of the gate and there were cameras on both sides pointing straight down to the entrance.

"I could blind them, but you'll have to act quickly or they'll notice" said Patricia. "Still, don't look at the cameras just in case" they nodded and then Patricia held her hands in front of her and produced an incredibly orb of bright light placing it in between the cameras, blinding them. Henry and Penny orbed in closer to the mermaid.

"Grab her!"

"How?" Penny tried grabbing the tail but it was slippery.

"Hurry up you guys!" Henry panicked at her sister's warning and slammed the receipt into the water unsure of what it would do exactly. The paper absorbed the mermaid, but she jumped right out again.

"She won't stay!"

"It's soaking wet, you dumbass!"

"She is _in_ the water, what did you expect?"

"OK. OK. I got… a receipt!" Penelope said looking through her pockets. Henry took it ready to try again.

"It's for…" he stared at his sister. "Really?"

"I don't judge you, you don't judge me. Hurry" the mermaid jumped into the air happy no doubt to be back in the water. Henry caught her on the way down avoiding soaking the paper by an inch or two. They orbed right out and they drove off before anyone got a chance to look at any of them.

WYATT, SAM AND EDWARD:

Wyatt orbed them to Sam's old apartment to find Edward.

"Ed, we got wo… woah! What do you think you're doing?" said Sam as they orbed in an undisposed Edward in bed.

"What do you think? Get the hell out!" said Edward stopped in his tracks. Wyatt was trying hard not to laugh at the whole situation.

"We got… stuff to do!" said Sam.

"You should go"

"Michelle?"

"Hiya, Sam" said her manager in bed with her brother.

"Could you at least wait downstairs?!" said Edward angrily. Wyatt and Sam walked down without talking. Wyatt caressed her shoulders and kissed the top of her head, trying to ease her mood. After a minute or two, Edward came downstairs sour looking. "What's the problem?"

"Gotta find the witch from Hansel and Gretel since your niece brought her out of the book" Wyatt summed up.

"Oh…" said Edward still a bit confused by the explanation from his brother-in-law. They left the store and carefully walked away for Michelle to see them leave, then, once far enough orbed closer to home since the characters didn't go all that far from it.

"There!" said Wyatt pointing to a green area nearby. There was a small fire going. They walked closer to it to find no one was there. "This isn't your normal trash can fire" he added as he described a stick roasting on top of it.

"Who are you?!" demanded the witch to their surprise. She had a couple teenagers hanging hand-tied in midair by her side, their eyes wide in fear. She made a hand gesture and threw the trio right on their backs.

"Any ideas?" said Edward trying to get up, but the witch kept them down. Wyatt managed to bring his shield up and they recovered. He tried banishing the witch but his powers only made her angrier. She threw a thunderbolt at them and they jumped out of the way. Sam grabbed Wyatt's hand and he tried again. This time, the witch had to make an effort to throw them off again. Edward grabbed his sister's hand and they attacked all together. The fire became bigger and bigger, brighter and brighter till the witch exploded. The teens fell to the ground, passed out.

Wyatt went over to the kids but they were unharmed.

"I'll orb them to the police station so uncle Henry can take over" he hugged Sam and gave a Ed a handshake before orbing out.

"How could you do this to me?" said Sam.

"Do _what_ to you? Have a life?"

"In my store? With my only employee?"

"Well, frankly… you don't leave much room for anything else"

"What?"

"It's always about you, isn't? Your family?"

"Edward, you know we got rules so we won't get caught doing…"

"Again, _you, you got rules!_ I never asked for any of it _"_

"Ed this is who we are, this is our life and we have a responsibility…"

"To what? The Halliwells? So, you guys can have a life while anyone else doesn't?"

"Are you crazy? What are you talking about? We have a life"

"Excuse me, I _had_ a life before I found you"

Silence overcame them. Sam was hurt and Edward was very angry.

Before any of them could gather the words to say, they were hit by a surge of electricity. Elak smiled at her handy work. She stopped enough for the two to look at each other and then she finished Edward while Sam watched unable to move or speak. Once her brother stood inhumanly still, Elak walked to her.

"Send my regards to the family, would you?" said Elak kicking Sam unconscious.


	9. Damage control

She woke up after a while, still unable to move very well, aching all over, her voice hoarse and vacant. She turned to her brother who was still a few feet away from her in the same awful position she remembered seeing him before everything went blank. She dragged herself ever so slowly to him, tears down her cheeks, when she reached his jacket she pulled on the fabric aware he wasn't going to react to anything she could possibly do to him, she dropped her head down feeling the cold earth beneath her forehead, breathing shallow breaths, hoping to God she was wrong, imagining the worst for nothing…she reached him at last and she lied next to him, his eyes wide opened. The pain in her chest overwhelmed her and she sobbed uncontrollably over her dead brother caressing his face as you would a child.

"Everybody got their target?" said Piper to the arriving crowds. "Good, Wyatt. You guys are the last ones… where's Sam and Edward?"

"They got… stuff to talk about" said Wyatt.

"So how do we get them back in the books?" asked Paige.

"I wrote a spell while you guys were out there" said Bianca unfolding a piece of paper. Piper took it and read while Chris fetched the books with blanks along with Hook back in their place:

 _Send them back to their good pages,_

 _Brought to life by childish games,_

 _Restore the calm in all these stories_

 _Where good magic played its hand_

"Lame" said Henry Jr.

"Get off my case, would you?!"

"Hey, it worked. Now cool it!" said Paige eyeing Henry who shrunk his shoulders. He knew he was in trouble.

Wyatt watched the clock on the wall, it was late. He tried not to worry so he dialed Sam's number. It was disconnected. Still trying to keep calm, he dialed Edward's number, which rang but there was no answer. Finally, taking a deep steadying breath, he dialed directly to Brightest Blessings which also rang to no answer.

Now with a sense of alarm, he called Chris.

"Chris? Is Sam or Edward with you?"

"No, man. Are they not back yet?" said Chris surprised. "Haven't checked in here"

"OK. I'll go look for them at the store. Maybe they're just talking and don't hear the phone"

"Want me to come with?"

"Sure" After a couple minutes Chris orbed to his brother and then they orbed close to Brightest Blessings. It was all dark. Neither the store nor the apartment had any lights on. "Let's retrace our footsteps" said Wyatt running his hands through his hair in a would-be-calm way.

They walked close to the spot where they had vanquished the witch, but the fire was well out so it was back to pitch black with the nearest street light broken.

"Where could they be?" said Wyatt more to himself.

"They're probably still talking about stuff, like you said"

"No. Not this long. Not without letting me know. Come on" he said running to the exact spot they had been earlier and there they were: lying on the floor, Sam resting on top of Edward. They went to them and Wyatt healed Sam whose eyes were barely opened. Chris tried getting any vitals from Edward but his wide eyes didn't lie. Once Sam recovered she curled on Wyatt's chest and before he could ask anything Chris was shaking his head in defeat.

"Here" said Piper handing Sam a cup of tea. She hadn't said anything at all. The news had been passed on but they decided it was better just to let them be. Piper caressed her head, remembering just how painful this was, to lose a sibling. She missed Prue so much it was hard to swallow.

"Uncle Henry took care of everything. They'll have him ready for the funeral" said Wyatt hanging up his phone, walking back into the living room.

"Kids are asleep" said Leo who came down the stairs with Chris. There was a moment's silence.

"I should call Edward's parents. They'll probably want to be here for the service" they agreed. Wyatt kissed his wife before going back to his cell.

"Got the number?" asked Leo.

"It's on Edward's phone" said Wyatt. His attention suddenly upstairs, one of the babies started crying, which would undoubtedly create an unpleasant chain reaction.

"Leo and I will tend to them. Go make the call. Chris…" she gestured to her son to take her place by Sam on the couch. She was still not crying or showing any kind of emotion. She had surely cried her eyes out when they were still lying on the floor together, but not now.

"It's… it's gonna be OK" said Chris hugging her. She laid her head against him still silent.

Next day, right down to the evening spirits were low, heavy, as they all headed for the funeral. Edward's parents had taken almost twenty hours to get to San Francisco, but they were the first to get there. Wyatt walked Sam by the arm all the way to the front row being the last to arrive. Sam had been moving slowly and nobody had the heart to hurry her.

At the service, the minister started his speech and everybody bowed their heads in respect for Edward.

"This is your fault!" yelled Edward's mother half way through the ceremony trying to get a hold of Sam. Wyatt quickly stepped in between them. "He was a good boy and had a good life before you came along!"

"Let my daughter be!" cried Samuel. "She's hurting enough as it is without your bullshit!"

"Well maybe she's got it coming for ruining my son's life!" said Edward's father.

"You son of a…!" Samuel threw himself at him. Men present tried to control the fist fight, but the uproar was imminent.

"You are my sunshine… my only sunshine…" Sam was softly singing to her brother by the casket. "You make me happy… when skies are gr…" she was interrupted by a slap in the face from Edward's mother who had managed to scurry away from the fight. Her ring collided with her lip and she was bleeding. She raised her hand for a second blow but Piper got her arm in midair.

"Back off or I'll swear to God…" she picked Sam up from the floor, her expression unchanged, her eyes watering.

IN THE UNDERWORLD…

"Chris is vulnerable. His fear of loosing his brother to evil is exploitable at the moment" said Elak. She took a handful of slimy potion from a stone basin and threw it on the floor. She chanted a spell and Barbas appeared.

"Who might you be?" he asked slyly.

"Someone who just conjured you back from the dead and knows you've got unfinished business with the Halliwells"

"Always" he growled.

"Good. I want you to attack Chris. He's Piper and Leo's middle child. I want you to feed from his fear of losing his brother to evil"

"I don't need you to tell me how to do my job! I am…"

"Vanquished!" Elak shouted, walking to him. "And you will be again if you don't follow my orders..." he tried reading her fears but she stopped him midway. "I recommend you don't try that again or you'll go back to oblivion sooner than you expected…" she stared at him daringly.

Once back in their homes, everybody lied awake hoping against hope that it had all been a bad dream and they were soon to be awakened from it.

Chris was no exception. He stared at the ceiling thinking how big a loss this was on Sam. He would be devastated if he lost Wyatt. Worst of all, there was more than way to loose him in their world, like loosing him to…

"Evil" Barbas interjected in his thoughts.

"Evil…" Chris whispered to Barbas' satisfaction. He was summoned back to the underworld to his frustration.

"So…?" asked Elak.

"Too easy" he said offended.

"Patience, old friend"

"I could have killed them right there and then…"

"You've tried that before! More than once too, haven't you?" He looked furious to be reminded of his failure. She enjoyed his little tantrum. "How did that work out for you?" she mocked him still. He remained silent as Elak circled him. "Thought as much… now, I want you to tail him. Every other thought in his mind must be filled with fear. Torture him with his own thoughts"

"Do I detect a hint of personal vendetta?"

"Maybe…maybe not. Maybe I'm just trying to succeed were all other morons have failed"

Wyatt took care of all the details from the funeral along with Uncle Henry. Chris volunteered to keep Sam company at their house. They prepared the kids and went downstairs, where the kids played on the carpet.

"Have you had anything to eat?"

"Wyatt made breakfast for the children and their snack is in the fridge…" Chris interrupted.

"I meant you" he took her by the wrist and pulled her into the kitchen. "I'll delight you with my world famous…" he was raiding the fridge. "… fruit bowl" he finally said picking several fruits from the drawer. Sam smiled in gratitude.

It was fairly quiet, except for the noises made by the kids.

"She lost her brother to evil…Wyatt could go so much easier…" Chris shook his head as if trying to shake such thoughts from his mind.

Julian broke the peaceful silence in the house with a wail that scared the living hell out of them all.

"What's the matter you guys?" said Sam going to comfort her children. She took Julian in her arms while Megan and Angie cried.

"Need a hand?" said Chris sucking the remains of fruit juice from his fingers. He took Julian from Sam while she calmed the girls. "What's wrong buddy?" he asked his nephew who was trying to point to something in the kitchen where he was a moment ago.

Barbas stared at him and left furious to leave behind such an easy target.

"They saw you?"

"No. Not exactly"

"I underestimated those children!" Elak was furious she had overlooked such an insignificant mistake. "OK. Damage control. Let's not let them think this through… I'll send the Furies after her and you finish him off!"

"There aren't any more, are they?"

"Weren't you dead just yesterday?" she said playfully. She took yet another handful of potion and threw it on the ground. She chanted and soon a Fury appeared before them both. Barbas fell to the ground almost immediately hearing the cries from his victims. "Hey?" Elak called its attention. The fury turned and stared. "I know how to get your kind back" the creature stopped torturing Barbas. "Get the girl I'm sending you to" was her instruction before sending her out. "You. After the boy!" Barbas disappeared still in awe of what this demon could do.

BACK AT THE SURFACE:

"That was weird" said Chris finally putting Julian down in his crib while Sam changed Angie's diaper before nap time.

"Yeah, call Wyatt and see if there are any invisible demons we have to worry about" Chris nodded and orbed out.

Sam kissed her kids and went back down, baby monitor in hand. She sat back on the couch when the Fury appeared behind her. It pulled on her hair and smoked her. Sam started coughing but recovered to throw her off with some icicles.

"Wyatt!" she cried still jumping away from the claws at hand.

Wyatt arrived a moment later and burst the Fury back into oblivion. "Are you alright?"

"I'm… fine" she said among coughs.


	10. The next target

"Chris found you?" she coughed some more.

"No, I was on my way here but parked close by soon as I heard you" he hugged her. She coughed into his shirt. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm f…fine"

"Why's Chris looking for me?" Wyatt said grabbing an apple from the counter.

"It's probably nothing…" coughs. "Julian caused a bit of an uproar this evening so we thought of… invisible… demons…"

"Here" said Wyatt getting her a glass of water. She drank it between even more coughs, which made her drop the glass. It shattered by her feet. "It's OK. I'll get it"

"No, I got it" said Sam starting to pick up the pieces of glass while he went to get a dustpan from the sink. He tried taking the glass from her hand to prevent her from cutting herself accidentally. " I said I got it!" she said and dropped them hard onto the floor where they shattered even further.

"Sam, it's OK. I'm sorry I wasn't here when the demon attacked. You're under enough stress as it is, why don't you go lie down?"

"Fine" she said and left angrily. Wyatt understood how much she must have been going through at the moment, with Edward's death still so fresh.

Upstairs, Sam lied down on her side head still pounding over the stupid glass. Chris orbed by the bed.

"Sorry" he said. "But I think Julian might have seen something this evening, only we couldn't… see, children see a lot of things we can't because of their innocence. I read about it in the BOS…"

"Stop talking, Chris. Not now"

"We need to figure out who's been the peeping Tom demon we got ar…"

"I said not now!" said Sam and Chris flew against a wall. He recovered in shock of what just happened. She was breathing heavily and prepared to attack him again.

"What's got into you?"

"What's going on up here?" Wyatt opened the door. "Chris?" he asked confused.

"I don't think it's me you should be asking about" he nodded towards Sam who was wearing slightly claw-like fingers. She stared at them both and disappeared into smoke.

They orbed with the kids back into the manor and rushed to the attic.

"Look for claws"

"Are you serious? More than half these creatures have claws!"

"She was angry too"

"She's grieving"

"Not like that, she's not!"

"She couldn't stop coughing after the demon attacked"

"What demon?"

"A female, tattoed-face, tangled hair…"

"Big old claws?" said Piper coming upstairs with Megan in her arms. "Why are you looking up the Furies?"

"The what?" said Wyatt.

"I read that…" said Chris taking over the BOS quickly turning the pages.

"The Furies. It was no fun becoming one before we vanquished them. The coughing was a pain in the ass" Wyatt's heart sank.

"Here" said Chris finding the page. "Their cry makes evildoers hear their victims' screams…the smoke…"

"Turns you into a Fury" finished Wyatt. "How do we find her?"

"Who?"

"Sam"

"What?"

"A Fury attacked her and she couldn't stop coughing when I got there"

"Oh God, Wyatt, we got no time…as soon as she does her first kill… there will be no turning back" she handed Megan to him. "Get the kids into the safe room. Chris, call your aunts"

"Alright, I got the spell" said Wyatt.

"How are we gonna get her back?" asked Chris. "I didn't see a potion for Furies"

"That's because there isn't one" said Phoebe.

"When Piper turned into one, we kinda made her face her anger to get her back"

"Which was?"

"I was angry at your Aunt Prue for dying"

"It hit her fast though" said Paige. Phoebe nodded.

"So, we need to take her to Edward then" said Chris bringing them back.

"Yes" answered Paige. "Let's just hope we're not too late"

"We won't" said Wyatt more to himself than his Aunt.

 _Hear these words, hear me now_

 _Wherever you are my bride_

 _Let these words bring you back_

 _Bring you back by my side_

"It's not working" he said after chanting a couple more times.

"She's not her anymore" said Phoebe.

"We're too late?" asked Chris.

"Not necessarily" said Paige trying to lighten the moods. "Maybe we just need to attract her here"

"How do we do that?" asked Phoebe.

"Chris? You said she attacked you?" asked Paige.

"Yeah, so?"

"What's if we try to pick a fight?" Phoebe said catching on.

"It could work. If these creatures are all about repressed anger it's possible" Phoebe scribbled away. "Here. Read this" she turned to Chris with a knife and cut the tip of his finger.

"Wow, a little heads up!" he complained while his aunt squeezed the blood onto the candle.

"Read" she said as the first drop fell.

 _A fight unfinished in a hurry,_

 _Come back and finish me you Fury!_

"You really think…" A chair was frozen just before it hit him over the head. "OK. It worked"

"Let her grab you!" yelled Phoebe.

"What? Are you crazy?"

"You're the one she's after. If I try she's puff away again!" said Wyatt. Chris nodded and went closer. She grabbed him by the neck.

"Quick, to Edward's grave" said Piper as her son dangled dangerously above the ground. Wyatt orbed them to the cemetery. Sam finally threw Chris back by the neck while Wyatt got hit flatly on the chest. Chris hit a tree hitting hard enough to open his head.

"It's alright. It's OK to be angry at him. He left you…after everything you went through looking for him he left again…" Wyatt was saying while he tried to stand up avoiding sudden movement. He glanced at Chris at the corner of his eye, he needed him. He took his eyes off Sam for a second and she flung herself at him. Wyatt orbed to Chris' side before she strike. "Chris?" he said unsure while healing his brother. Chris awoke shaking his head slightly, the wound was closed but he was still resenting the hit. Sam jumped toward them and they rolled out of the way leaving a defenseless poor oak to perish at her claws.

"I don't think it's working" said Chris orbing out of the way once again. "Any ideas?" he said trying to catch Sam's attention to keep her from running off on them.

"No" he said in despair. Sam threw herself at Chris over and over till she managed to slash his chest. "Chris!" Chris thought for a moment.

"I got an idea" he said holding his wound with one hand and grabbing Sam's outstretching arm with the other. They orbed a second later leaving a very confused Wyatt.

He orbed her to Edward's old room where she turned and turned again apparently confused on where to go next. Chris took advantage of this moment and grabbed her by the sides turning her to face the tall mirror by the closet. She was in full view of herself.

"Go on. Tell her. Tell her how she blew it. How she ruined his life. How she's responsible for what happened to him" Sam started trembling and meant to leave but Chris cut off her pass and threw her back roughly. "She needs to hear how she failed him. How she wouldn't let him go…How…" Sam gave an almighty scream and threw herself at Chris where she caught her this time in his arms. The claws started to fade out as she cried crumbling to the floor. "Shh, shh…" he held her close. "It's OK"

"No, it's not OK. I failed him Chris. All this years wanting to find him, to be sure he was safe and I brought him straight to his death" she sobbed and shouted. "I was selfish. He helped me get my life in order and he wouldn't even have a life of his own. He ended up giving everything for me and he didn't have to… he didn't want to… I was supposed to protect him!"

"Here" he said picking a tennis racket from the side of the bed. "Give it a whack" she stared at him for a moment and then took it. Chris stood up and helped her up as well. She was staring back at the mirror intently breathing shallow breaths. Without so much as a warning, she broke the mirror and kept thrashing around the room crying in despair. Chris just stood aside watching her pain give into her anger. After breaking the tenth or so of Edward's old possessions, she kneeled down and cried some more. Chris took the racket from her and hugged her. His shirt covered in blood wasn't helping the situation, it stung, but he was sure it didn't hurt nearly as much as loosing a brother. After a few moments on the ground, Wyatt orbed in finally catching up with them. They said nothing. Wyatt went over to them and healed his brother.

"You alright?" Chris nodded giving Wyatt the opportunity to take his place by Sam. He orbed away leaving them brokenhearted on the floor.

BACK AT THE MANOR…

Everybody was waiting to hear the outcome of tonight's problem. Chris reassured them they were all fine.

"How did you know she was angry at herself?" asked Phoebe.

"Because I would have been"

"Chris…"

"It's OK, mom" he hugged her and went to bed.

UNDERWORLD…

"Go" echoed a vicious female voice before Barbas shimmered away.

BACK AT THE MANOR…

Chris lied wide awake in his room, staring at the ceiling. Thoughts of loosing his own brother running around in his head uncontrollably. Suddenly, Wyatt and Sam orbed into his room.

"Quick! He's after her now!" Wyatt hugged Sam turning his head this way and that.

"Who?" said Chris, but he found the answer not too soon. A demon appeared near his side and blew Sam up on the spot. Wyatt's wrath devastated the room along with the demon who was instantly vaporized. He had a maddening look in his eyes. "Wyatt?"

"No. It's enough. I'll show them how powerful I can be. I'll show them all"

"What?"

"Don't stand in my way or you'll become the enemy too" he pointed a finger at Chris who could feel his heart racing against his chest.

"So easily turned…" whispered Barbas in his ear.

"Wyatt wai…" Chris fell to the ground paralyzed in fear. His hair whitening on the spot. Barbas laughed at his handywork. Chris' arm started to sting, his heart racing. "No" he said to himself writhing on the floor of his room.

"Chris, I think…" said Piper opening the door. "You!" she meant to blow him but he got away with a smile. "Oh my God, Chris?" she kneeled beside her son. "Wyatt? Leo? No, no. no, baby. Come on!"

Wyatt appeared a moment later along with Leo behind her by the door.

"What happened?" said Leo kneeled by Chris too.

"Barbas. That son of a bitch!" said Piper crying enraged. Wyatt tried healing him but it didn't work at first. He started to sweat.

"Not again" he muttered to himself. He started giving him CPR, then tried healing again. Then both at the same time. "Can't take _him_ " he muttered again to himself thinking of his encounter with the angel of death. After agonizing moments, Chris started to breathe but he was still short of breath so they laid him on the bed. Wyatt felt his arms getting weak with nerves. "He's alright" he said slightly louder than a whisper, more to himself than anybody else. Sam, puffy eyed, went straight to hug him. Chris struggled to catch his breath, trying to refill his stressed lungs.

IN THE UNDERWORLD…

"He's alive?"

"He was as good as dead"

"Was he _dead_?" Barbas remained silent. Elak paced around him, furious he hadn't finished the job. "Those who fail me, only get to do it… once" she raised a finger and lifted Barbas by the throat. Her face maniacal. She set him on fire and delighted herself on hearing him scream, frightening even the toughest demons around the tunnels.


	11. All too close

It took more than just the one death to satisfy Elak's anger, but as the days went by she became more tolerant and could be approached without being set on fire or blown up. By the time she summoned some of them to gather, they knew better than looking hostile. She sat in front of them, unafraid of such creatures in the darkest place of the Eafth.

"Well…I've got quite the treat for you all" she said smiling. Even to demons her smile wasn't to be trusted. "The Pyxis box"

"What's that?" "Never heard of it!" was overheard.

"Of course not you morons, haven't discovered it yet…see, the box holds powerful dark magic, difficult to contain and to obtain…"

"Where is it then?"

"Above ground. The sisters successfully contained what's inside but not the box itself. They don't know what it is or what it can do"

"What if mortals find it?"

"See, that's the whole point!" she said triumphantly. "It wants to be found. That's how it infected a Halliwell in the first place"

"What's inside it?" another demon dared.

"My dear fellas, let me enlighten you" she looked at them all and singled out one from the crowd. "Can you come here for a second?" she said in a would be sweet voice. Unsure, the demon walked to the front of the crowd, curios as any other in the room to know what Elak had for them. She caressed his face in a motherly way, placing her hands on the sides of his misshapen head." Et comedet segetes tuas meam!" she said in a deep voice and a black smoke orb came out of the demon's mouth, dropping the empty body behind. "This" she said clasping the orb between her fingers. "It's a demon's life force. Untargeted, it'll make the humans act erratically. Put into the right human, at the right time can turn little Billy the match burner into Billy the firestarter" the demon's around smiled.

"So what's the plan?"

"I will get the box and arm you with these orbs, so you can cause as much needed chaos as you possibly can. But…the box will not stay long underground, it'll resurface so we must be quick about it, since there's no telling where would it go. You'll need to act unanimously" puzzled faces all around made her roll her eyes. "At the same time" she explained to moronic nodding. "Maximum effect. Different parts of the city. Force them to spread out!" there was cheer and sinister laughter about after her speech.

Meanwhile, the Halliwells were enjoying the no news is good news proverb.

"What is going on around there?" said an exasperated Paige.

"Trouble finding the place?" smiled Piper.

"A kid kicked me, yes, _kicked me_ out of the way!" she showed the shoe's print on her pant leg.

"Aren't you a people person" Piper smiled further. "Relax, would you. Phoebe'll be here soon"

"Well, up yours too!" said Phoebe from the entrance out into the street. "Jackass!" she slammed the door.

"Easy. What happened to you?"

"Some jackass crossed my path just outside when I was trying to find a parking spot"

"You guys are all sunshines today" Paige grunted, followed by Phoebe and a chuckle from Piper.

"Hey everyone!" said Wyatt coming through the door stroller behind him. Sam had Megan in her arms.

"Hey you guys!" said Phoebe smiling now going to pick Angie up. "Hello, sweetie" she kissed her repeatedly.

"You're early. I thought you guys weren't coming till after lunch" said Piper opening her arms for Julian.

"Oh, I'm staying. I'll let these two have their fun" said Sam.

"Sure?" asked Wyatt.

"Positive" she gave him a peck on the lips before going to the play mat where she put their kids down to play.

"Hey, you're early!" said Chris coming down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" asked Paige.

"Believe it or not, to a baseball game"

"Really?"

"Yep, my big brother is going to get me hot dogs and nachos and…"

"Hey, hey, hey, don't push it!" he replied playfully. A cry came from upstairs.

"Oh, I'll get her" said Sam. She kissed Wyatt and went over to Chris who puckered his lips, she turned his face with her hand and kissed him hard on the cheek. "Have fun you two"

AT THE GAME…

"How much are you going to eat?" said Wyatt handing his brother yet another hot dog. "What is this… your third dog?"

"Let it go!" he said smiling back. "You're overreacting"

"And you're seriously overeating"

"It's not that much!" he said trying to juggle the enormous amount of topping on the dog.

"The tray of nachos, the soda…bucket you're drinking, the pop corn, the corn dog…" his speech was drowned by a cheering crowd. Chris smiled with a mouthful adorned by a half mustard half ketchup mustache.

LUNCH AT THE MANOR…

"How's Chris doing?" asked Phoebe over tea.

"Oh, he's fine or so he says. He hasn't really talked about it with me or Leo" Piper explained.

"It's alright, Piper. He'll talk about it when he's ready" advised Paige.

"I know. It's just… I'm still wondering how Barbas got to him. I mean, we've kill the guy like…"

"Hundred times?" nodded Phoebe.

"Never thought he would get near our children"

"We all know there's a lot out there we can't protect them from"

"Besides, you were there" Phoebe took her hand encouragingly.

"If I hadn't been, Chris would have…"

"But you were" set Piper's thought still for the moment. "How's Wyatt?"

"You saw them. Spending some quality time together. I think they are more terrified of loosing each other than I can ever be"

IN THE UNDERWORLD…

A demon walked steadily closer to Elak who seemed to be napping awkwardly on her chair, her hand on her face.

"What is it?" she said when the demon was close enough.

"Didn't mean to disturb you…"

"What is it?" she said uninterested.

"The orbs…"

"Aren't you having fun with your new toys?" she exclaimed.

"Yes, but we're running low…"

"I told you. It's a limited time offer" she said staring at her nails. Demons all around grunted unsatisfied. Without warning, Elak took the closer one from the face and rose her hand above her head. "Perhaps you want me to make some more right now?" threatened, the demons vowed down. "Make havoc of what the orbs have provided, but keep it… human" she said walking off her chair.

"What…?" "How?"

"The only reason the Charmed Ones or any Halliwell hasn't meddle is because they think it's the same old daily bad mood in people. If they suspect demonic activity, fun's over, got it?" they nodded. "Mortals are predictable. They already try to destroy each other, which makes things relatively easy for you, to keep the balance on our side sort to speak"

"Why not take over all at once?" grunted a particularly ugly demon.

"Because, my dear fellow-demon, humans react to crisis. If you keep things routinely wrong they'll do nothing to stop it, till it escalates. Like… boiling water. You put a crab in the pot and it'll stay there and die slowly as the water temperature rises, but throw the same crab into boiling water and you'll get the pincers…" she eyed them all, her eyes wide and fixed on every being in the room. "Let them boil…unaware… have your fun… enjoy" she laughed maniacally as was her custom. Demons felt reassured somehow even though they couldn't get what they had come to demand from their new leader.

AT THE JUNK YARD…

"I want units at the back exit! We'll flush him out!" yelled Henry into a hand radio running into a car junk yard. He took his gun out and started sliding closer to the high car piles, looking this way and that.

"I think we lost them!" said another cop to his left. A shot hit near the two of them and they spread and dropped to the ground. Henry shushed him with a hand gesture and pointed in the direction of the fire. Another gunshot… they had been made and had to be very careful if they wanted to get to the shooter.

The shooter, scared and confused, had meant no harm to the store clerk. He had merely decided to steal some beer for his gang to party this evening, but things had escalated fast. Now he was hiding from the cops, armed and with no place to go from here but jail or the morgue. His teen face still not showing the years going though him, so young and so lost, what a triumph for the demon who had had the pleasure to infect him this morning on the way to the convenience store. He shadowed him, close, unseen, proud as his masterpiece rose to a crescendo.

"Hey kid! We just wanna talk to you!" shouted Henry from behind a pile of flattened cars. Yet another shot flew by them.

"The hell you do!"

"This doesn't look good for you, man. I'm not gonna lie, but you can make things easier for yourself if you just put the gun down. We don't want anybody else to get hurt"

"I didn't mean to, man! He was gonna shoot me if I didn't… I'm sorry!" the kid said nervously but truthfully.

"I believe you. But what's done it's done, let's just put an end to all this kid!" the scared teenager was shaking. Slowly he started to put the gun down to the demon's displease. He threw an energy ball at the pile of cars where the cops were hiding and that scared the kid who raised his gun again.

"Look out!" yelled Henry's partner running from the falling wreckage, having to shoot down the teenager who was still pointing the gun towards them to get out of the way. Henry jumped himself but didn't get far enough on time, the cars fell on his legs crushing them and pinning him down. The demon walked out from behind a broken truck and killed the back up. He prepared another fire ball for Henry, who was pointing his gun at him pointlessly, shaking from the shock, but not intimidated. The demon smiled, he kneeled down to him and let him shoot. He laughed at him before taking the gun from his hands. The demon was ready to strike when he heard the other cops running to them. The fire in his hand went out and he knocked a paralyzed Henry with a punch, leaving him bleeding and helpless.

A flash of blue light and time around them slowed down. A cloaked figure kneeled by Henry and tried healing him, which brought his respiration back to normal, his legs still in pretty bad shape. It looked up at the pile of cars and did what would look normal to the mortals, he tipped most of the cars on top of Henry to the other side relieving him of almost all the weight, careful not to harm anyone else. He did what he could without making it obvious and shone away. Time continued as normal and the men reached Henry. They lifted the remaining car off of him and took him to an ambulance.


End file.
